29
Apr

Show Up First, Make a Sale, Make a Customer Happy

I’ve finished reading Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, The Thank You Economy and although there is so much I could write about, I decided on commenting on part of my favorite chapter. It’s the first part of chapter nine, “Avaya: Going Where the People Go.” It stands out because it’s a simple lesson we can all learn from and illustrates beautifully how social media empowers anyone on either side of business to take action.

Gary tells us how by answering one tweet, Paul Dunay, Avaya’s global managing director of Services and Social Marketing, got a $250,000 sale. The tweet read, “shortel or avaya, need a new phone system very soon.” Paul answered almost immediately with a simple, “We have some highly trained techs who can help you understand your needs best and help you make an objective decision. Give me a call.”

Thirteen days later the sale had been made. Gary tells us that what gave Avaya the advantage is of course, that they showed up where no one else did, and they showed up first. He also then explains that behind every B2B transaction, there’s a C. No matter what you sell or what your offering is, you’re selling to someone. And that someone is online, tweeting, posting, liking, sharing, etc.

Social media has evened the playing field for small and big business to get in front of the customer. If a smaller outfit than Avaya had jumped on the opportunity, or a reseller perhaps, they could have gotten the sale. There are many tools and alert systems out there that you can use to have your eyes in front of the action so that you can do as Avaya did and show up first. All you have to do is…take action.